This paper addresses the problem of contact transition from free motion to constrained motion for robots. Stability of transition from free motion to constrained motion is essential for successful operation of a robot performing general tasks such as surface following and surface finishing. Uncertainty in the location of the constraint can cause the robot to impact the constraint surface with a no...
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A brake control law for vehicle collision warning/collision avoidance (CW/CA) systems has been proposed in the paper. The control law has been designed for optimized safety and comfort. A solenoid-valve-controlled hydraulic brake actuator system for the CW/CA systems has been investigated. A nonlinear computer model and a linear model of the hydraulic brake actuator system have been developed. Bot...
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Acceleration computation based on simple numerical differentiation from an optical encoder signal may be very erroneous, especially in the low-velocity and low-acceleration regions. To overcome this problem, a novel approach to estimating acceleration in these regions is proposed in this paper. This low-acceleration estimator, which is a computer algorithm, is based on the fact that the displaceme...
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A simultaneous engineering framework for designing optimal mechatronic systems is presented. In the first part of this paper, a method, based on genetic algorithms, for optimizing the geometric configuration of three-axis machine tools in the conceptual design stage is presented. The second part describes a method, based on component mode synthesis, to derive a low-order control model from a finit...
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Proposes a vision-based active sensing system, termed vision-based active antenna. This is composed of a camera, a flexible beam whose force-deformation characteristic is known, and an actuator for rotating the beam. The camera observes the beam deformation, including the contact information, while the beam is in contact with an object. By solving a set of equations based on the information acquir...
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This paper presents a new method for the design of compensators for linear time-invariant dual-input/single-output (DISO) systems in continuous time or discrete time. The new method reduces the problem to two single-input/single-output (SISO) design problems, which are well suited to frequency-response design techniques. The first part of the method is the design of a stabilizing compensator for a...
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The dynamic response of a hybrid computed torque controlled quick-return mechanism, which is driven by a permanent magnet (PM) synchronous servo motor, is described in this paper. The crank and disk of the quick-return mechanism are assumed to be rigid. First, Hamilton's principle and Lagrange multiplier method are applied to formulate the mathematical model of motion. Then, based on the principle...
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Describes a tactile sensing system based on a force/torque sensor for the feet of a pipe crawling robot. Such a sensing system is needed for better optimization of force and joint load distribution and a safer avoidance of the risk of foot slippage. While conventional tactile sensing devices typically provide information concerning the spatial distribution of normal pressures, the intrinsic contac...
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Feedback interferometry is a useful tool to characterize micromachined devices. We consider a silicon vibrating gyroscope, in which the angular rotation is transduced into the vibration amplitude of a small suspended mass. Measurements of the mass displacement at submicrometer resolution are reported on a 400×400 μm sensor, using an 800-nm 20-mW laser diode. The resonance curves of the de...
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With the rapid progress in permanent-magnet technology, through the use of high-energy-density rare-earth materials a range of compact and high-performance linear actuators is now available. The paper presents simulated and experimental results from an investigation into the performance of such a device, in which the internal operating conditions are first modeled using a finite-element approach. ...
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This paper describes magnetically levitated micro permanent magnet (PM) motors by two types of active magnetic bearings. The micro PM motors consist of a cylindrical rotor (φ2.0 mm×10 mm), a pair of electromagnets, a pair of photodiodes, and an analog PD controller. The motors are characterized by the small rotor levitated without any mechanical contacts and one-axis controlled active ma...
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Aims & Scope

IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics encompasses all practical aspects of the theory and methods of mechatronics, the synergetic integration of mechanical engineering with electronic and intelligent computer control in the design and manufacture of industrial products and processes.